Financial Aid: What You Need to Know

1. Financial Aid: What You Need to Know New York StateHigher Education Services Corporation

2. What is Financial Aid? • Financial aid helps pay the cost of attending college. • Some financial aid is based on need. • Some financial aid is awarded based on other criteria, such as grades.

3. Sources of Financial Aid Federal government New York State Colleges – Institutional Aid Private sources

4. Types of Financial Aid Scholarships – free money Grants – free money Work Study Loans

5. Explore FAFSA.GOV

6. Free Application for Federal Student Aid • FAFSA • Evaluates a family’s ability to pay for their educational costs • Determines an Expected Family Contribution (EFC) • Allows family to receive Federal Student Aid (FSA) programs

7. Expected Family Contribution • EFC • Calculated based on Federal Formula • Amount the family can reasonably be expected to contribute • Includes parents’ and student’s contributions combined • Stays the same regardless of the college selected

8. Sample EFC for Family #1 • Family lives in New York • Married Parents, Both Age 52 • Household Size of 4 with 1 child going to college • 2012 Adjusted Gross Income = $120,000 • Assets = $20,000 • Student Income/Assets = 0 • EFC = $20,830

9. Sample EFC for Family #2 • Family lives in New York • Single Parent, Age 48 • Household Size of 3 with 1 child going to college • 2012 Adjusted Gross Income = $60,000 • Assets = $2,000 • Student Income/Assets = 0 • EFC = $4,926

10. Sample EFC for Family #3 • Family lives in New York • Married Parents, Age 45 • Household Size of 5 with 2 children going to college • 2012 Adjusted Gross Income = $30,000 • Assets = $500 • Student Income/Assets = 0 • EFC = $0

11. FAFSA4caster: FAFSA.gov

12. Determining Financial Need Cost of Attendance (COA) – Expected Family Contribution (EFC) = Financial Need

13. Cost of Attendance (COA) • Tuition and fees • Room and board • Books and supplies • Transportation • Miscellaneous personal expenses • Loan fees • Study abroad costs • Dependent care expenses • Expenses related to a disability

14. Sample COA Comparison Note: All figures based on 2012-13 academic year information *Source: http://www.baruch.cuny.edu/financialaid/student_budgets.htm +Source: http://www2.binghamton.edu/financial-aid/pdf/educational-costs-ugrads.pdf °Source: http://www.nyu.edu/content/dam/nyu/financialAid/documents/tuitiongeneral.pdf

15. Financial Need for Family #1

16. Financial Need for Family #2

17. Financial Need for Family #3

18. Net Price Calculators

19. Questions to Consider… • If we are a high-need family, will the college meet our full need? • Can our financial need affect a college admission decision? • What are the financial aid philosophies of our prospective colleges? • What if we have special circumstances?

20. Financial Aid Programs

21. Federal Student Aid Programs • Pell Grant • Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG) • Federal Work-Study • Federal Loans • Federal Perkins Loan • Federal Direct Stafford Loans • Federal PLUS Loan

22. Studentaid.ed.gov

23. Federal Aid: Keep in mind… • Student must be a U.S. citizen or eligible non-citizen • Male students must register with the Selective Service System (sss.gov) • Must be within a certain EFC range to be considered for Pell Grant, FSEOG • Demonstrate need for other programs such as Work-study, Subsidized loans

24. NYS Financial Aid Programs • Major Financial Aid Programs • Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) • Aid for Part-Time Study • NYS Scholarships for Academic Excellence • NYS Math & Science Teaching Incentive Program • Veterans Tuition Award

25. HESC.ny.gov

26. NYS Aid: Keep in mind… • Student must meet citizenship, selective service requirements of FAFSA • Student and parents, if dependent, must be legal residents of New York State • Can only be awarded at eligible NYS higher education institutions • There are specific program requirements for the various NYS scholarships

27. Colleges: Institutional Aid • Depends on funding at each college • College determines eligibility criteria for need-based and non-need-based programs • Academic, athletic, and other talent-based scholarships and grants • May require an additional application • Keep track of deadlines!

28. Visit College Websites Source: http://www.studentaffairs.columbia.edu/finaid/

29. Explore the CSS Profile http://profileonline.collegeboard.com

30. Private Scholarships • Billions of dollars in private funds available • Charitable foundations, businesses, religious institutions, wealthy donors, and minority organizations • All have their own individual applications and requirements

31. Websites to Start Searching

32. Fastweb.com

33. Scholarship Myths • Searching and applying for scholarships is only the student’s responsibility. • You have to have financial need to get a scholarship. • Students have to have excellent grades, SAT/ACT scores to get a scholarship. • Scholarship searching is done during senior year of high school. • “It’s only $500, so why bother?”

34. CAUTION! Avoid paying a fee to file the FAFSA or a scholarship application! Avoid financial aid “consultants” and for-profit websites Submitting the FAFSA and NYS TAP application is FREE FREE help is available if you need assistance in completing the applications

35. Free FAFSA Help @ StartHereGetThere.org

36. Thank You!